


glimpse

by polyxena_chatoyant



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi
Genre: Gen, Gift Fic, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 11:25:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13075875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polyxena_chatoyant/pseuds/polyxena_chatoyant
Summary: Who could ever forget a nose like that?





	glimpse

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BadWolfGirl01](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadWolfGirl01/gifts).



Rey is ten years old and the ruins of an old starship tower above her. Half submerged in the deserts sands and already picked apart by the majority of the other scavengers, it is a pitiful thing to look at. She had been warned off it by a single person, taking pity on her small form in the face of Jakku’s unrelenting desert;  _ There’s nothing left there, it’d be better to try somewhere else. _

But Rey doesn’t  _ have _ somewhere else. All the other ruins were further out into the desert, far past her self-made home and only easily reachable with a speeder. Which she currently didn’t have. Of course, she was working on it, but saving scrap parts and trading her rations for credits to save up for even a husk of a speeder was hard. So right now, the remains of this ship - not even something cool, like in the stories that some whispered of Jedi - were all she had.

At the thought of rations, her stomach rumbled.

There had to be something salvageable. Something at all. 

So she climbed the dunes and into the wreckage, face wrapped to protect against the wind and sands. It was instantly cooler inside, making her realize that she had been sweltering out in the heat. There was nothing to do for it, though. Rey would simply have to take comfort in the brief respite she had inside the starship.

Though… Brief might be underselling it. Rey spent hours in the wreckage, combing over every square inch of metals and junk as she moved further into the ruins. The fingers of hundreds of other scavengers had left their marks everywhere - pieces ripped out of the wall, exposing loose, unsalvageable wiring, claw marks in some places, the complete lack of  _ anything _ on the walls despite the marks that said there had once been paneling… The deeper she went, the more frantic the marks became. The more frantic Rey became, too.

It had to be getting close to sundown. Rey knew she should turn back, resign herself to a night of hunger, as Jakku’s deserts were much too dangerous to traverse alone yet. Especially after night fall. But she was just… So tired, so angry, so hungry, so angry at being tired and angry and hungry. 

Her face felt hot and her eyes blurred with unshed tears as Rey struggled to contain her emotions, to not cry at her own helplessness. Not for the first time, and most certainly not the last, Rey wondered when her parents would come for her. ( _ Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, don’tthinkaboutitdon’tthinkaboutthem- _ ) 

Unbidden, a scream of frustration escaped her. It echoed tinnily throughout the ruins, bouncing off the sands and metals, coming back to her depleted of its own energy. Empty, just like how she felt.

Rey opened her eyes - and froze.

Sitting only a few feet in front of her, eyes closed and cross-legged on the sands, dressed in a white tunic and pants, was a boy. A boy she had never seen before, certainly, because no one new ever really came to Jakku, and she never would forget a nose like that. His dark hair, falling around his chin, was a great contrast to the paleness of his skin and clothes. His face was calm, and his breathing deep.

“Who are you?” she demanded, swinging her only weapons, a long stick she’d found weeks back, in front of her. Rey had no idea how to use it, but how hard could it be? It was a stick. You hit things with sticks.

The boy’s eyes snapped open. “Huh?”

Rey blinked, and he was gone. 

* * *

 

(Many, many years later, Rey would look at another boy with another unforgettable nose. And despite everything that happened to her, despite the pain and grief he caused, it was always that younger boy she saw in his eyes. An innocence hidden. It would prompt her to take a chance, in more ways than one, that boy with closed off eyes. He never seemed to recognize her.)

* * *

 

_ In a place where only He could reside inside his young apprentice’s mind, Snoke scowled at the small, barely there connection. He had no need for a tool that connected to any force-sensitive being this side of the galaxy, and thus he placed a barricade in the part of the boy’s mind that created these sorts of connections. That would have to do, for now. _

**Author's Note:**

> This is for BadWolfGirl01 who writes really awesome fics, specifically "follow me (and i will bring you home)" which is an AU canon-divergence fic starting in TLJ when Kylo offers Rey the universe. It was what really solidified me as a reylo shipper, tbh. So here's to you, BadWolfGirl01! I know it's probably rushed, but I honestly didn't start getting into Star Wars until TFA so I don't know terms and species names, so I didn't want to blunder too badly. A small little thing seemed the best bet. I almost made it a Doctor Who crossover, haha. Hope you - and anyone else, too - liked it! :)


End file.
